“More than you’d expect,” Holt said, grinning.
Bailey got up, grabbing two of the plates.
“Let me help with that,” Rafe said, taking the plates from her.
While Rafe assisted Bailey with the dishes, Simon let that sink in, imagining his brother dropping off and picking up Pickles every morning and night. Since he’d never owned a pet—not even a fish—he had a difficult time picturing it.
“I think you should talk to Brantley and Reese,” Holt stated, interrupting the silence.
Not sure they’d ventured off the subject of dog daycares, Simon frowned. “Because they take their dog to the daycare?”
Holt rolled his eyes. “About what I told you.”
“Ah. We’re back on Meredith Prescott.” Simon took a sip of his tea. “You think they have information you don’t have?”
“Not necessarily. However, they were involved in tracking down Juliet Prince.”
Simon shook his head. “I’m still tryin’ to understand which angle you’re playin’ here. Are we lookin’ at what happened to Meredith Prescott? Or at what happened to Kylie Walker?”
“I think they’re somehow tied together.”
“That’s what I’m havin’ a problem with,” Simon told him. “I really don’t see it.” He held up a hand before Holt could cut him off. “We know Juliet Prince kidnapped Kylie’s daughter, right?”
“Yes.”
“During a school field trip.”
“Yes. Juliet grabbed Kate while the class was visiting the Capitol.”
Simon held his friend’s stare, breaking it down as he remembered it. “She did it because she blamed Travis for her husband leavin’ her and gettin’ full custody of their daughter. And we know Juliet went off the deep end and wanted revenge against Travis, who she blamed since the woman Juliet’s husband ended up with was one they’d interacted with during a visit to Alluring Indulgence.”
Holt nodded. “Yes.”
“Somewhere along the way, Brantley and Reese got involved with the search for Travis’s daughter, tracked her down, and went to Mississippi to rescue Kate?”
“Correct.”
“And we know that Juliet Prince was killed during a mugging gone wrong down in—”
“We don’tknowthat,” Holt interjected.
“That’s what the official police investigation states.”
“It does, yes. But why would they assume it was a mugging when Juliet was found in her own motel room?” Holt asked, sounding irritated. “She had two hundred thousand dollars in cash. I don’t give a shit if there was an altercation. A mugger’s not gonna leave that kind of money behind.”
“Good point. Unless he or she freaked out and ran, as the police believe.”
“Convenient story,” Holt muttered. “But they aren’t seeing that a man associated with Maximillian Adorite was in Port Isabel at the same time.”
“Just out of curiosity, how many people do you think the Adorites associate with? Have you ever heard of six degrees of separation?” Simon countered. “It could be a complete coincidence—”
“Bullshit,” Holt bellowed. “Don’t even feed me that shit.”
Simon laughed. “Okay, fine. I don’t believe in coincidences, either. But according to your notes, Max’s guy wasn’t the only one down there. Sniper 1 Security filed a flight plan to Port Isabel that same day.”
“They did, yes.”
“If I recall correctly, Brantley Walker, Reese Tavoularis, Magnus Storme, Sebastian Buchanan, and Trey Walker were on that flight. And they were met by Decker Bromwell, another employee of Sniper 1 Security.”
